For those who have attended conventions, what effect did it have on your sub numbers?

[AdrenalineShots]

Do you feel it was worth time, money and emotional investment? Would you do it again? Did it lead to an increase in subs or sales? Did one con make a difference or do you feel you would need to do multiple ones to make a real impact?

[Kayke]

I feel like it really depends on the Con you go to. Like SPX is worth it for me in terms of sales and marketing. Wizard World cons have not been as good to me, and local conventions are kind of a toss up to the point where I'll only go if I can get table for cheap (or free) and chill with my friends.

It 100% has to do with the demographic. The cons where I don't do well tend to be cons with big vendor rooms and celebrity autograph booths and stuff. The people going to those tend to want to purchase merch and old main stream comics, not newer indie stuff or children's comics. The people I see do the best at those cons are people who have stuff published by DC/Marvel or people who do fanart pinups or t-shirt style mash up prints.

So far SPX and (the now defunct) Philly Alt Con have been my jams in terms of demographic. The people in attendance were more open minded about buying stuff they hadn't heard of before and some of them were into webcomics in a way I don't think the people at the other cons I've been to were. There were also a lot of webcomic artists tabling, so it was a good place to meet people I follow on twitter in person and make some new friends.

It can be hard to judge the demographic of a con without actually going, but I would suggest asking people who have tabled at the specific cons what the crowd was like and also how their sales were. Check the guest list from the previous year to see if you think your art would fit in (but also stand out enough that it won't get lost). If you can find a convention that's a good match for you, then it's a good experience and definitely worth it!

You might also consider non-comic cons. Like tabling at a horror convention might net you some new fans who would be into your work but unlikely to go to a comic convention or browse for webcomics online.

[Chopythes]

Every convention I'm selling at, is a convention I make the most networking (and of course, friends).
I think it's definitely worth the time and the emotional investment. It kind of also depend on WHAT you want from the convention?

I see people sitting down, drawing and have little to no care for the customers at their table and I can't help but to wonder - Is it really worth it?

I believe that you get out of it, what you pour into it.

I look forward to every convention I'm selling at, it's a chance so trade experiences, views, and opinions. There's never not a convention where I've felt I haven't learned anything from it.

I've sold plenty already and I'm not even an established artist! (It has happened that I've sold more than a small published did at the same convention, that's gotta ensure some bragging rights, right? ;D)
But no, I didn't notice any increasing subs, people who buy physical things, usually wants to keep it that way, happily waiting a year or two before the next volume releases.
I might get one or two, but keep in mind - I'm a Swede, so the comic community might be a bit different from the American.
It's a relatively small one, but they're really loyal and friendly. I've told them multiple times that my work's available online and not more than once had they told me that they'd rather wait xD
So that's really fun to hear, which means: Sales!

About the impact: There's like a few real, really real, comic cons here. The ones that call themselves Comic Con are... More about tv-shows and a table at the AA is like €200 which isn't affordable if you're a small comic creator.

There's like only 2 of them here, but just talk with publishers, lurk around a little and feel the air, then you'll probable know how to make an impact in the end!
Don't be afraid of talking to people

[GoldenPlume]

Our con experience has been very mixed. Last year we did SacAnime Gives Back which ended up being a really small turn out. No official numbers were released but we'd guess maybe 1,500 to 3,000. The table was super affordable at $25. The major costs ended up being table supplies ($70), printing ($435), transportation ($300), and lodging ($120). So yeah we spent close to $1,000 on the entire thing. Our table was a Tapastic table and we had eight series on display in print. People were able to walk up and flip through series like Centralia 2050 right then and there and then walk away with a flier to remind them to visit the website or download the app. We purposefully advertised smaller series that we felt were under represented on Tapastic instead of being about premium series or well known series.

Tapastic sent us a helper so we could work as a team. Our location wasn't great in the corner of the exhibit hall but we did have a corner table which was nice so our vertical banner could stand out there and pull in the traffic rather than be half hidden behind our table.

All the attendees were super nice and most were very receptive. Most had no idea about webcomics though, which indicates there's a huge untapped market of readers. We spent the whole day promoting Tapastic. Tapastic did a couple of tweets featuring us and we got a huge spike in subscriptions. The cost-per-sub considering $1,000 spent though wasn't worth it. We've since found there's a lot more cost effective ways to do that. Also none of the seven series we promoted ever gave us any data so it's really hard to judge the overall ROI. Spread across eight series, the total cost would have been $125/series which, if that was all we paid, then we did great!

We felt like it made a real impact so we tried to do it again.

We tried to follow up by doing a Tapastic table at SacAnime Winter 2017 but artist's alley table sales are only open for 1 minute and unfortunately that was a minute that we could not be available for. We tried about 8 times to contact SacAnime staff about an exhibitor table but never received any response. SA's AA team were the only people who returned any of our messages and they couldn't do anything to help us because they had no authority. We tried to put to do panels for SA (5 different ones total) but all were denied. We tried to sponsor at SA. No response. We tried to advertise in the program. No response. All we were allowed to do was enter the art contest and that was a mistake. Not only did we not win, but SA failed to deliver on the publicity prizes to the winners other than the cover winner. The art which took a huge amount of time/cost was printed on a sheet of computer paper and hung on a privacy screen with all the other entries. We will definitely never participate in their art contests again.

The whole back end experience at SA was very disheartening.

We had already purchased tickets so we still went. The first and only panel we went to was Sword Art Online which ended up being an infomercial for breakfast cereal and Starburst candy where the voice actors sat around stuffing food in their mouths and you couldn't understand anything they said. Arrrggghhh! And that was a "featured event"?! We had a weekend badge but left after a day. It's unlikely we will ever attend again.

We went to another tiny 1st year convention in May, Sundial Bridge Comic Con. Attendance was 500 to 1,000. Again no response to our attempts to panel or have an exhibitor table. The event seemed very disorganized. We left after an hour because there was not a whole to see in the exhibit hall and we could not find a program or schedule of panels.

Our next convention will be San Francisco Comic Con. We've been invited to panel one event and moderate/host two more. Staff there has been ok to work with. There's been a lot of mistakes and miscommunications but staff does return your messages and does their best to make corrections.

We will let you know how that goes. So far though its hard to say how well cons work for webcomics (unless you are Homestuck).

We tried to do something with Crunchyroll Expo for this year but no response there. Our panel was rejected-to-waitlist (a polite way of rejecting).

We tired to do something with Anime Expo this year but we couldn't reach a final deal. In the end, with the whole Line Con 2017 experience, frankly, we're glad that we didn't.

Conventions... especially dealing with their staff... are tough. For all the time invested sending emails, writing up panel details, etc. so far its not been worth it. But hey, if you want to get tough skin from all the rejections and unanswered emails, it's invaluable!

[Shanny8]

To be truthful, I havent seen much of an increase in subs- even with attending cons. I may need to make some cards informing my customers about my webcomic...I would have at least thought with me actually producing an actual print version of the first chapter(that I sold at my last con) that would helped drive eyes to my webcomic, but I still havent seen that much of an increase.

[LordVincent]

I have never been to a convention but people keep nagging me to do it. Problem is I don't see it being successful since I don't think I have a lot of swedish followers. Can't go to a con in the us because blah blah Trump blah blah America is not safe to travel to for trans people blah blah previous experience trying to have vacation in the US that ended up in me being sent back home with bad false information stuck on my personal record that would make it difficult to go there again.

Regardlesssssss, does anyone think it would be worth it? I do have some swedish followers, I'm just not sure if there's enough of them. I'm not considering cons to increase audience so much as to get current audience excited and give them a chance to meet me IRL.

[joannekwan]

My priority at a con isn't to increase readership really. It's more to get my name out there and just hang out and have fun. I sell "sampler" issues of my two biggest comics, and I also sell my completed comic in book form that I get through CreateSpace. I don't expect to make bank from it, but I do hope to make back the money it cost for my half of the table at least.

I usually do 1 or 2 cons a year with my group of artist friends.

[nelmathyria]

For me, it's hard to say. I've only been to two small cons before, and I sold a couple books, which is more than I would have so l otherwise! But as far as online subs go, I didn't notice any particular increase, and

@Chopythes That's really interesting that people told you they'd rather read your comic in print, I'm always afraid that when I tell people my comic is online they won't see the point in buying a book of something they can read more of for free. Good to know there are readers who don't think that way!

So I don't know about new subs specifically, but I'd say that cons are definitely a great experience to get your name out there and even just being able to practice pitching your comic to people is super valuable.

[SpavVy]

Eh, my friends and family keep pushing me to get a table but I dunno, I'm kinda awkward. I also think I'd be ignored by most because the tables that seem to do well are the ones that are also selling fan art and I refuse to sell fan art

[sarrowsmith10]

I see an increase in readership for a short while after the con. I'm not sure how sustainable it is. We do however make money when tabling depending on the show. Which is the real reason we go. We have printed books and prints, stickers, plushies, that sort of thing. Of course we just enjoy going to conventions and usually make our money back. Having a table and selling merch helps us pay for our convention going hobby. After the table, gas, hotels, supplies and all that are paid for, I might go home with $20 in profit, but I still think its worth it.

[Shanny8]

That's why I've only been doing local cons right now...I'd def be in the red if I travelled and got a hotel/motel room.

[sarrowsmith10]

Nothing wrong with local cons! Even the big pros do local stuff. Saves a ton of money! (And time spent traveling) Sadly the local con in my area closed down, so I have to travel if I want to vend. T__T

[Shanny8]

Oh no, not saying anything is wrong with doing local cons. Just saying I dont make enough in sales at this point in my "budding" comics career to go to a con out of the area where I live. When I first started trying to sell my comics at a couple of cons(way back in the days), it was more of a thrill; didnt make much money, but I had a big ass grin on my face coz "I SOLD MY COMIC BOOK AT A CON!"- the thrill is still there nowdays, but it's equally leveled with "I need to make my table money back- and then some,"